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Former SCANA CEO Will Land in Prison as Result of V.C. Summer Nuclear Project

October 17, 2021

Kevin B. Marsh, former CEO of SCANA Corp., was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud related to the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project.

Marsh is the first defendant in the case to be sentenced as a result of the investigation. However, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has obtained felony guilty pleas from Stephen Byrne, former executive vice president of SCANA and former COO of South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCE&G), and Carl Churchman, former vice president with Westinghouse Electric Corp. and the project director of the V.C. Summer nuclear project. It has also charged Jeffrey Benjamin, former senior vice president with Westinghouse, in a 16-count felony criminal indictment. Benjamin maintains his innocence, however, and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina M. Rhett DeHart has said all charges against him are merely accusations—the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

In the case of Marsh, however, the evidence presented in court “showed that he intentionally defrauded ratepayers while overseeing and managing SCANA’s operations—including the construction of two reactors at the V.C.…

Nuclear Is the Bastion of Pennsylvania’s Newest Climate Action Plan

September 25, 2021

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Pennsylvania, a major power producer that relied on fossil fuels for 66% of its net power generation in June, plans to maintain its nuclear generation at current levels until it can ramp up other carbon-free supplies to 100% by 2050, the state’s Sept. 22–released 2021 Climate Action Plan suggests.

The measures are part of a broader 18-strategy suite outlined in the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) fifth iteration of the plan, which is updated periodically as required by the 2008 Pennsylvania Climate Change Act. But because electricity generation is the greatest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Commonwealth, accounting for nearly 30% of total emissions, they are a priority, officials told reporters on Wednesday.

The plan acknowledges Pennsylvania’s historic and current role as a significant regional energy hub. The state is the third-largest energy-producing state in the U.S. (after Texas and Florida); it ranks in the top three for coal and natural gas production, and it is the nation’s second-largest nuclear generator.…

Former Westinghouse Executive Charged with Conspiracy, Fraud in Connection with V.C. Summer Nuclear Project

August 24, 2021

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The post Former Westinghouse Executive Charged with Conspiracy, Fraud in Connection with V.C. Summer Nuclear Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Former Westinghouse Electric Co. Senior Vice President Jeffrey A. Benjamin was charged with 16 felony counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud, and causing a publicly traded company to keep a false record, for his part in failing to truthfully report information regarding construction of new nuclear units at the V.C. Summer nuclear plant in South Carolina.

Benjamin is the fourth individual to be charged in the ongoing federal investigation. Former SCANA CEO Kevin Marsh, former SCANA Executive Vice President Stephen Byrne, and former Westinghouse Vice President Carl Churchman have all pleaded guilty to federal felony charges for their roles in the matter. However, in a statement, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina M. Rhett DeHart noted that all charges against Benjamin are merely accusations, and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.…

Icebreaker Reactor Approved for Ground-Based Nuclear Plant

August 9, 2021

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The post Icebreaker Reactor Approved for Ground-Based Nuclear Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The international business arm of Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company has received a license that will allow construction of small modular reactors (SMRs), based on the design used in the country’s icebreaker shipping fleet, at ground-based nuclear power plants.

Rusatom Overseas JSC (RAOS JSC), the company representing parent company Rosatom’s international interests, on Aug. 9 announced it was granted the license from the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision—known as Rostekhnadzor—that will allow construction to proceed. The license specifically was granted authorizing Rusatom Overseas to move forward with a project to build an SMR with a RITM-200N reactor at a site in Ust-Kuyga, in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia.

The Yakutia SMR project is based on technology from Rosatom used in the design of the RITM-200 reactor that powers the icebreaker ships. The RITM-200 is an integrated generation 3+ pressurized water reactor, developed by OKBM Afrikantov—a Russian nuclear engineering company—and designed to produce 55 MW of power.…

Fuel Loading Only Major Milestone Left for Vogtle Unit 3 Nuclear Project

July 30, 2021

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The post Fuel Loading Only Major Milestone Left for Vogtle Unit 3 Nuclear Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, reported during the company’s earnings call on July 29 that hot functional testing (HFT) had been completed on Vogtle Unit 3, and that the “next and final major milestone” is fuel load. “We project fuel load to occur sometime near year-end 2021 or early in 2022,” he said.

The Vogtle nuclear power plant expansion project includes the addition of two new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors—Units 3 and 4 at a site near Waynesboro, Georgia, that has two existing units. (Unit 1 began operation in 1987 and Unit 2 began operation in 1989.) The project is owned by four partners—Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power (45.7%), Oglethorpe Power Corp. (30%), Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power, 22.7%), and Dalton Utilities (1.6%).

Construction on Unit 3 and 4 has been a long, drawn-out process. Southern Nuclear (a subsidiary of Southern Company) filed for an early site permit (ESP) application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in August 2006.…

El Dabaa First of ‘Several’ Nuclear Reactors for Egypt

July 16, 2021

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The post El Dabaa First of ‘Several’ Nuclear Reactors for Egypt appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant is moving forward, and a government official said the country plans to build “several” more reactors “in various regions” to help support economic development and increasing demand for power.

Hesham Hegazy, who leads the nuclear fuel sector for Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA), made the comments during a panel discussion this week at a Rosatom-sponsored event on the role of nuclear energy in sustainable development. Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation, is leading construction of four planned Generation III+ VVER-1200 reactors at the 4.8-GW El Dabaa nuclear power plant, which will be Egypt’s first commercial nuclear power generation facility.

The first unit at El Dabaa is scheduled to come online in 2026. Russia is lending Egypt $ 25 billion for El Dabaa’s construction. The plant will be located about 190 miles northwest of Cairo on the Mediterranean coast.…